Microbiological assessment of air quality of selected locations within Veritas University, Abuja, Nigeria
Paper Details
Microbiological assessment of air quality of selected locations within Veritas University, Abuja, Nigeria
Abstract
The study investigated the microbiological quality of indoor and outdoor air of certain locations – the chapel, basement, classroom, hostel, as well as the old and new microbiology laboratories in Veritas University, Abuja. The settle plate technique using open Petri dishes containing different culture media was employed to collect samples daily for 5 weeks at 7 days intervals. Standard microbiological methods were employed for the identification of bacterial and fungal isolates. The bacterial counts ranged from 1.90×106 to 5.3×106 and 2.90 x 106 to 6.20 x 106 for indoor and outdoor air while the fungal counts ranged from 2.30 x106 to 3.70 x 106 and 2.10 x 106 to 4.40 x 106 also for indoor and outdoor air respectively. The bacterial isolates were identified to include Bacillus species and Staphylococcus aureus with percentage occurrence of 44.0% and 56.0% respectively. The results obtained also showed the occurrence of three major fungal species namely Aspergillus sp (60.0%), Rhodotolura sp (5.0%), and Rhizopus sp (35.00%). The bacterial isolate, Staphylococcus aureus (56.0%) was shown to be the most predominant airborne bacteria while Aspergillus sp (60.0%) was the most frequently isolated fungal species. The 95% confidence level statistical analysis showed a significant difference between the indoor and outdoor air microbial load of the selected locations. Data generated underline the usefulness of monitoring the air quality of the selected locations because the contamination of indoor and outdoor habitats can cause health problems and even an increase in human mortality.
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